1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a refrigerant distributor for a heat exchanger and a heat exchanger having the refrigerant distributor.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional micro-channel heat exchanger 20 generally comprises micro-channels or flat tubes 5, fins 4 disposed between the adjacent micro-channels or flat tubes 5, an inlet manifold 3 and an outlet manifold (not shown) disposed at ends of the micro-channels or flat tubes 5 respectively, and a refrigerant distributor 10 disposed in the inlet manifold 3 as shown in FIGS. 1-2. The refrigerant distributor 10 is disposed at a side of the heat exchanger 20 to distribute refrigerant. The distributor 10 may have a portion extending out of the inlet manifold 3 as shown in FIG. 1 or may have no portion extending out of the inlet manifold 3. The refrigerant distributor 10 comprises a pipe 9′ in which a plurality of outlets 8 are formed in an axial direction of the pipe 9′.
If vapor-liquid phase refrigerant exists, distribution of the refrigerant shall be problematic. In order to distribute the vapor-liquid phase refrigerant, a refrigerant distributor 10 has been proposed as shown in FIG. 2. The distributor 10 is formed by a cylindrical pipe in which a plurality of outlets 8 are formed through a wall of the cylindrical pipe. Assuming that refrigerant enters into the distributor 10 from an inlet 7 shown in FIG. 2, the refrigerant flows along an inner chamber of the distributor, is ejected out of the pipe 9′ through the outlets 8, and then is mixed in the inlet manifold 3. After that, the mixed refrigerant flows into the flat tubes 5. However, the distributor 10 illustrated in FIG. 2 is disadvantageous in that refrigerant is layered when it flows in the distributing pipe. The liquid refrigerant is located on a lower side and the gaseous refrigerant is located on an upper side due to the gravity.